Author's note: Another chapter! I checked for mistakes but I was tired so some may still remain!! Enjoy :)

Disclaimer: Queer as Folk belongs to Showtime and Cowlip, I just pretend to own them ;)

Chapter Four

Ben sat at Michael's bed-side holding his hand, JR and Hunter were in the waiting room, Justin stayed with them. Debbie was on her way, Ted and Emmett were on a holiday, Emmett thought Ted deserved one. JR and Hunter sat beside each other in the plain white room. Justin paced around.

"I need a smoke" Hunter stood up searching through his pockets.

"Don't be too long and you know you shouldn't be smoking" Justin said as Hunter walked by him to get to the door.

"I know" He mumbled shutting the door behind him.

"You ok?" Justin sat in Hunter's seat.

"I think so" She shook her head "I dunno" JR looked down at her pink converse. "Do you think it's my fault?" She asked, not looking up.

"JR, why would you say that?" Justin rubbed her back.

"Do you think he was too busy worrying over me that he wasn't paying attention" JR pushed her dark hair behind her ear.

"Don't blame yourself JR" Justin gently pushed back her hair. JR sat there thinking.

"Hey, look who I found" Hunter came back followed by Debbie, Brian and Gus.

Debbie ran to JR "Are you ok sweetie?" She asked sitting on the other side of her.

"Yeah, grandma, I'll be fine" JR told her. Gus hugged Justin.

Brian stood near the door "How's Mikey?" He asked Hunter who was standing beside Gus.

"He's in a coma, they're going to try some new medication but that's all I've heard" Hunter fumbled with the smoke pack in his hand.

Brian nodded, Justin knew he was upset.

"Brian, you alright?" Justin asked standing up.

"Yeah" He nodded, Justin knew he was lieing.

For ten minutes there was silence. Ben walked in, he looked exhausted "Hey guys" He began to speak when he spotted Brian "What are you doing here?" He asked.

Brian was taken by surprise with the question "I'm here for Mikey" He said slowly looking around.

"Well, he doesn't want you here!" Ben stared at Brian.

"Look, can we forget what happened with JR until Mikey's better?" Brian asked.

"Michael said that he didn't know if he could forgive you. I think it's best if you leave" Ben moved from in front of the door, giving room to get pass.

"Ben" Justin began.

"Justin" Brian looked at Justin "C'mon lets go, Gus you staying?"

Gus walked towards them "I'll go, if my family aren't welcome, I'm not" With that they left.

"Jesus Ben" Debbie stood up and walked over to him "He came to see Michael"

"Debbie I'm sorry but Michael said"

"I don't fuckiing care what he said" She left the room.

Brian, Justin and Gus sat in the car driving home.

"Brian?" Justin looked over at him.

"Yeah?" Brian lowered the volume on the radio.

"Are you ok?" Justin continued to look at him.

"Yeah, fine" Brian looked over and smiled at Justin.

"Ok" Justin knew they had to talk.

Gus sat in the back looking out the window. He phone beeped in the pocket of his jeans. He took it out and read the message Jake sent him.

The message said

We need to talk about what happened call me

Gus put his phone back in his pocket and continued looking out the window.

"I'm taking a shower" Brian yelled as he was walking up the stairs when they got home.

Gus didn't know what to do he didn't feel like calling Jake yet so he watched some cartoons for a while.

"Hey Gus" Justin flopped down beside him.

"Yeah dad" He answered turning off the television.

"What happened with your eye?" Justin asked looking at his slighty swollen eye.

"Oh, it was my locker. It's old and stiff" He lied.

"You can tell me if there is anything wrong. I know what happened with Jake. You wanna talk about it?" Justin touched Gus's shoulder.

"I will tell you if anything is wrong. I dunno, I think I need time. I'm not ready to talk about it" Gus shrugged.

"That's fine" Justin paused and looked at Gus "Do you think dad wants you to be straight?" He asked.

"Well yeah" Gus started playing with his ring, not looking at Justin.

"All the things he said to you growing up about getting a good wife was his way of protecting you. He didn't want you to go through all the fucking homophobic bullshit there is out there" Justin began playing with Gus's hair.

"Really?" Gus looked up at Justin.

"Yeah, now you two can go to Babylon together, the owner's son, you could get any one of them easily" Justin broke off laughing. The look of Gus's face was priceless.

"Dad!" Gus looked at Justin "What's so funny?" Gus stood up.

"Sorry, I'm sorry" Justin took a minute to catch his breath "You hungry, lets order in" He said standing up.

"Sounds good" Gus smiled.

"Go upstairs and ask dad what he wants" Justin went to get the phone.

Ben stayed with Michael. JR was staying in Debbie's.

"Sweetie, you hardly touched your ice cream" Debbie sat beside JR at the kitchen table. "I know your worried about your dad, everything will be fine" JR thought she was saying that to reassure herself.

"I know" She smiled. "I'm not hungry, can I use the phone please?" JR put her spoon in the bowl.

"Of course" Debbie took the bowl away.

"Thanks grandma" Junior got up and walked over to the phone. She dialled Gus's number. Debbie left the room to give her some privacy. JR leaned against the wall while the other phone rang.

"Hello" Gus answered.

"Hi, it's me" JR cleared her throat.

"Hi, hows your dad? Are you ok?" Gus asked very worried.

"I'm ok, dad's alright, I was only allowed see him for a few minutes. What if he dies?" JR's voice started to break.

"He won't die, be strong like mom" He comforted.

"Can you come over to my grandma's house tonight so we can talk" She asked quietly.

"Sure, do you want me to come over now?" Gus asked.

"Please"

"Ok, I'll see you soon"

"Bye Gus"

"Bye"

JR hung up the phone and sat down on the couch.

"Dad" Gus called as he walked into the kitchen.

"Yeah" Justin answered. He was sitting at the table reading.

"Is it ok if I go to Debbie's? Her pipe burst" Gus tried to make it sound natural.

"Sure, what about dinner?" Justin asked putting down his book.

"Y'know she'll probably force me to eat anything" He joked.

"Alright. Call me if you need a ride back"

"Ok. See you later" Gus left the house and walked in the direction of Debbie's.

Ben was asleep, holding Michael's hand. He was sitting on a chair beside Michael's bed, he was slumped over asleep in the bed.

The nurse on duty came in, she was old with a kind face. "Sir, sir" She gently shook Ben.

Ben woke up "Huh?" He yawned and rubbed his eyes.

"Sir, I think you should go home and get some sleep" The nurse looked down at him and smiled.

"What if he wakes up and I'm not here?" Ben asked rubbing Michael's hand.

"We'll take care of him, don't worry" She reassured him.

Ben gathered his stuff. "I love you" He kissed Michael's forehead.

Ben sat in the car, he let out a sigh trying to relax himself. He looked in the backseat. Michael's sweater was there. He picked it up, he slowly ran his fingers over the fabric, he raised the sweater up to his nose 'Just like Michael' He thought.

Ben sat in the car thinking about life.

Justin sat at the dining room table doing some sketching. He heard Brian come down the stairs.

"Brian" Justin put down his pencil.

"Hows the sketching going?" Brian walked in and stood behind him.

"Good, my wrist is starting to hurt" Justin paused. "How are you feeling?"

Brian rubbed his forehead with his thumb "I'm ok, I need a drink. Where's sonnyboy?" He walked over to the liquor cabinet.

"He went to Debbie's, her pipe burst. Drinking won't get rid of the pain" Justin turned to face Brian.

"Well what will? One of my best friends is dead, I don't want another one! So please tell me what to do?" Brian shouted. His eyes filled with tears thinking about Lindsey.

Justin wasn't surprised by Brian outburst "You should stop drinking and talk to me, talk to anyone. Let people in!" Justin stood, went to Brian and hugged him. Brian was grateful for the warmth and comforting feel of Justin's body against his.

"How's the pasta?" Debbie asked smiling at Gus.

"The best, thanks for making it" Gus sucked on the long pasta.

"You want ice cream?" She asked sipping her water.

"I'm fine, thanks" Gus sweetly smiled.

"Grandma, stop trying to fatten him up" JR grinned.

"He's all skin and bone, just like your father" She added looking over at Gus.

He smiled "I'm full, Thanks Debbie"

"Ok, I'm going to get an early night" She kissed JR and Gus on their foreheads and went to bed. Gus cleaned up after himself and sat beside JR.

"Can I ask you something?" JR asked tracing the pattern of the tablecloth.

"Yeah" Gus knew it was about their mams.

"This weekend, will you come to the cementry with me to visit the grave?" Her voice began to crack.

"Of course I will" Gus gave a warm smile.

"Thanks bro" She gave a hundred watt smile.

"No prob sis" Gus jumped up and hugged her.

Brian lay in bed flicking through the T.V stations.

"I'm going to bed" Gus popped his head in the door.

"Did you have a good time?" Brian turned off the television and looked at Gus.

"Fixing a pipe?" Gus smirked.

"Good night! Get to bed it's late" Brian stuck his tongue out. Gus disappeared from the doorway.

"What are you doing?" Justin asked walking out of the en suite bathroom, dripping wet clad only in a towel that hung on his hips.

Brian turned to look at him "Admiring the view" He smirked wickedly. He got off the bed, grabbed Justin and started kissing him wildly. He pushed Justin on the bed and got on him, just then the phone rang. Brian huffed in annoyance.

Justin reached for the phone "Hello" Brian got off him.

"Hi Daphne" Brian lay beside him listening to his side of the conversation.

"That'd be great"

"See you then, bye" Justin hung up the phone. "I'm meeting Daphne for lunch tomorrow"

"Great" Brian got back on Justin. He licked a droplet of water off Justin's quivering stomach. Brian looked up at his face as he moved his tongue lower, taking the towel off him, Justin closed his eyes. A moan escaped his mouth.

Gus sat at his desk playing games on his laptop when his cell rang. He picked it up from where it lay beside the laptop. Jake's name flashed on the screen. He swallowed and answered.

"Hello" Gus whispered, not wanting to wake his parents.

"It's me, you never called me" Jake's voice sounded different, like he was crying.

"Oh yeah, see my uncle well he's not really my uncle but he was hit by a car so I was at the hospital, sorry" Gus moved to sit on his bed.

"Sorry. Can I see you earlier than usual tomorrow because we really need to talk and I'd prefer if it was in person" Jake spoke slowly.

"Oh my God!" Gus heard Justin shout from the bedroom.

"Sorry, my dad's are having sex" Gus cringed. "I think" He added looking at his bedroom door.

"Eh...ok" Gus knew Jake was freaked out.

"See you tomorrow" Gus quickly hung up. His heart was beating really fast. He had a knot in his stomach 'What's going on with me?' He thought as he looked at the wallpaper on his phone. It was of him and Jake at a party a few months ago, smiling like nothing could defeat them.

A/N: Now review :) Thanks for reading!